Google Analytics 4 (GA4) uses attribution models to determine how credit is assigned to touchpoints throughout a user’s journey.

On the 26th of June, Google refined its attribution models, enhancing the accuracy of conversion credit for paid search campaigns. This update has led to a noticeable increase in the conversion credit attributed to these campaigns. 

GA4 users have reported that, when using auto-tagging for Google Ads, the campaign name can sometimes appear incorrectly as “(organic)” and “(not set)” in GA4.

This issue can lead to inaccurate attribution of paid search campaign performance.

Google has acknowledged the problem and confirmed that it is related to recent updates to attribution models and Google Consent Mode.

Our marketing decisions heavily rely on accurate GA4 data. Without reliable data, our ability to report on granular campaign performance is significantly hindered.

How to ensure your data remains reliable

While Google investigates and seeks a solution, we recommend the following steps:

• Ensure that your Google Ads account is correctly linked to your Google Analytics 4 property.
  
• Manually tag your ad landing page URLs with campaign information using UTM parameters for reliable reporting, even if auto-tagging fails to capture the necessary data.
  
• If you are using BigQuery, compare collected traffic source fields against session sources to verify campaign attribution accuracy. 

If you need further guidance, we can help and will communicate any updates from Google regarding this issue.